[Vwdiesel] smartplugs

[pmdolan at sasktel.net]

I have seen many different engines running with "smart plugs".  The van (at least the one I drove in) is powered by a regular Ford 400M, but the injection components have been sourced to tolerate the alcohol/water combination (VERY corrossive).  The ECU is replaced with a stand-alone setup, that is programmable in real time (THAT is fun to watch).

The have run aircraft gasoline engines on diesel (at Oshkosh a few years ago, pulled the mags and wiring in front of thousands of people, drained the avgas, top up with Jet B and flew off in a J-3 or Pa18  on Floats.  They have a rotary powered boat around that is particularly impressive.



----- Original Message -----
From: paul lew <biovolks at yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 4:36 am
Subject: [Vwdiesel] smartplugs

> Has anybody actually physically seen the engine work ?
>  The website didn't go into much detail.
>  Sounds interesting, I wonder what the cost is? on the website 
> you couldn't buy.
>  Paul
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:57:33 -0600
> From: pmdolan at sasktel.net
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Interesting diesel concept car.
> To: Ron Schroeder <rjs at bnl.gov>
> Cc: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Message-ID: <b9c54473fcc6.45cdeb6d at sasktel.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> The engine is neither gas nor diesel.  It is compression ingnition 
> (similar to what a model airplane does), but uses an aspirated 
> charge.  I 
> have driven Mark's (Mark Cherry, the PhD genius behind Smartplugs) 
> van, 
> and it works very, very well.  Officially, this is called a 
> "plasma" 
> ignition, since inside the ignitor tube, the catalytic surface 
> sets off a 
> rather intense combustion process inside that squits a plasma into 
> the 
> cylinder to ignite the rest of the charge.  The size and 
> proportions of 
> the ignitor controls the timing (when spent gasses are compressed 
> to 
> expose new mixture to the catalyst wire).  Ingenious, simple, 
> reliable.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ron Schroeder <rjs at bnl.gov>
> Date: Friday, February 9, 2007 12:05 pm
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Interesting diesel concept car.
> 
> > I am pretty sure that it was a gas engine.
> > 
> > Ron Schroeder
> > Brookhaven National Lab
> > 631 344-4561
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- > Message: 5
> > > Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 07:12:41 -0800 (PST)
> > > From: David Cook <vwdieselbunny at yahoo.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Interesting diesel concept car.
> > > To: diesel list <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> > > Message-ID: <23063.89568.qm at web51314.mail.yahoo.com>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> > > 
> > > Roger-
> > > 
> > > Were you watching the Discovery Channel last night?  I
> > > saw the very beginning of the show where they featured
> > > this car last night, before I went to watch Kansas
> > > beat Kansas State last night.  [sigh]
> > > 
> > > Here is a news story I found on youtube after hearing
> > > a feature on the radio this morning.  The van is a
> > > diesel engine being run on 65% ethanol and 35% water. 
> > > 
> > > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6q9HG9oCYI>
> > > 
> > > And here is the home page for smartplugs:
> > > <http://www.smartplugs.com/>
> > > 
> > > I couldn't find much more with a bit of googling but
> > > it was pretty interesting.
> > > 
> > > David
> > _______________________________________________
> > Vwdiesel mailing list
> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know. Ask 
> your question on Yahoo! Answers.
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>